Michael Gray (footballer)
- For other people named Michael Gray, see Michael Gray (disambiguation).
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Michael Gray | ||
| Position(s) | Full-back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Blackburn Rovers F.C. | ||
| ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of June 9, 1999 | |||
Michael Gray (born August 3, 1974 in Sunderland, England) is an English football player who plays for Blackburn Rovers as a full-back. He wears the number 33 shirt for the club.
An experienced player, he started his career for Sunderland at the beginning of the 1992/93 season. It was not until 1996-7 he came to the fore, as a regular for Sunderland as they got relegated from the Premiership. He gained unwanted attention a year later, however, missing a penalty in the First Division playoff final, which would have taken Sunderland back into the Premiership. As a First Division player, he was picked by Kevin Keegan to make his international debut for England as a substitute in the match against Hungary on April 28, 1999. Sunderland finished first in Division One and won promotion to the Premiership. In June 1999 Gray also played for England against Sweden and started the match against Bulgaria.
However, as his next season was plagued by injury, he failed to make the England squad for Euro 2000. This did not affect his domestic team's form, however, as they finished in seventh place in the Premiership, a feat repeated in 2000-01.
In the 2001-02 season, Sunderland struggled, and with their dip in form came a dip in form for Gray, and for the next two seasons, he was constantly rumoured to be moving elsewhere. Relegation came for Sunderland at the end of the 2002-03 season, and two games into the 2003-04 season Gray finally left, joining Celtic on September 1, 2003, on a four month loan. However, having failed to make an impact, and generally finding himself out of the squad lists, he moved to Blackburn Rovers on a free transfer on January 1, 2004.
He made his Blackburn debut against Chelsea in a 3-2 defeat, but constantly performed well for the team as they avoided relegation. In February 2005, he joined Leeds United on loan until the season's end. He is currently back with Blackburn and appearing regularly for them in the Premiership.
External links
- Michael Gray at Soccerbase